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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. snap — to click
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — for light
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — temperature
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. degree — an amount
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. tear — to rip
  13. degree — from a university
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — a phone
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. scale — in music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com